We heard of a marathon, duathlon, and triathlon. These are the typical endurance sports events. Now, there is an increasingly popular endurance race called The Spartan Race. It is categorized as Obstacle Course Race, in short, OCR. It is an endurance race that challenges your mental, physical limit with multiple environments. It could be at the jungle, hills, mountains, snow, tropical forest, and even in the desert. In between the courses, they are obstacles you need to complete. In every Spartan race, you will expect mud and barbed wire, robes, stones and spears. So do not ever expect to be clean at the finish line of The Spartan Race.

I completed my first Trifecta Last year. Spartan Race is relatively new in the Asia market. The first Spartan Race in Asia was organized in Malaysia on the 10 October 2015. I believe they were “testing the water” that time and it was a great success. Now I can see Spartan Race community is growing rapidly throughout Malaysia and in the Asia region. I am proud to be part of the community.

My first Spartan Trifecta

I am going to share a little background about myself. Running long distances was not my thing. I am a powerlifter by background. I love to lifts like squat, bench press and deadlift. I workout focus more on growth in strength and power. However, I am embarking on a journey to do both strength and endurance. In other words, being a hybrid athlete and with a spice of callisthenics. I am still learning and seeking advice from friends who are in the fitness industry and doing my own homework. So, how do I prepare for Spartan Race?

My fitness journey begins with Powerlifting

The Spartan Coordinators do not release the course map to competitors beforehand, there’s no way of knowing exactly what you need to prepare for. You have to be ready for anything. Regardless of what the obstacles are, your endurance, speed, and upper and lower body strength is going to be tested to the limit. If you want to be competitive, you may need to have to include all these components of fitness into your training routine.

These are my 7 Spartan Race Training Components.

1. You got to love Burpee.

Burpee is the bread and butter of every athlete that runs The Spartan Race. If you failed an obstacle, you must complete 30 burpees. There are some mandatory obstacles, which you must do such as the bucket carry, sandbag carry, A-frame and etc. I usually perform burpee as my finisher workout, superset workout and during a run like every one kilometre I will do 15 to 30 reps of burpees.

2. Endurance Training.

The distances for Spartan Sprint is 5km+ with 20+obstacles, Spartan Super is 13km+ with 25+obstacles, and Spartan Beast is 21km+ with 30+obstacles. It is very different from running a Marathon. The obstacles in between will mess your running pace, and it is worst is if you fail the obstacles. The 30 burpees are going to burn your legs. To get ready for the distance, I usually run at least one long (more than 10km) run per week. 3 weeks before a race, I increase the distance (12km to 21km) and the number of runs. To spice it up, sometimes I do 15 to 30 burpees every 1 to 2 kilometres. If you are preparing for an Ultra Beast with a distance of 42km and 50+obstacles, you got to train longer and harder.

3. Trail and Hills Training

The only thing to expect is the unexpected. Spartan Race is always held close to nature. Expect to face nasty hills, rocky terrain, muddy path and cold river. Hence, same goes for your training. Hill and trail running should be a must in your training.

It is quite challenging for me to find a hill to train that is close to my place. So I usually run on the highest incline of the treadmill, and at times I will carry the 60lbs Spartan Pan Cake. I usually run at the beach and not so much on the tar road. If you got hill that is close to your place, you should that the opportunity to train there.

4. HIIT and Interval training.

The obstacles between the race will affect your running pace. It was worst when you failed, and you had to do burpees. So how can we train for this scenario? You can include interval training, and High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). These training increases your heart rate. Increasing your heart rate allow you to raise your anaerobic threshold.

Interval run is done by changing the running pace with the right interval duration. What I usually do, for longer intervals, decrease your speed. For shorter intervals, increase your speed. For every one kilometre mark, I sprint as fast as I can then I proceed to jog until the next kilometre. Another way to mix things up is to do 15 to 30 burpees every one kilometre of your run.

I love to do HIIT with weights. One of my favourite, barbell complex. It is a continuous movement with a short period of time. It may include back squat, overhead press, bent over row and deadlift. One of my typical routine sets are 225lb back squat, pull-ups, burpees and neutral chin up. The goal is to push your body in an anaerobic mode and recover from it as quickly as possible to continue your running pace.

5. Powerlifting and Callisthenics

Working on your upper and lower body is essential. You might have to climb over a wall, carry a sandbag uphill, climb across monkey bars, do a Hercules hoist, crawl under barbed wire, bucket carry, Atlas carry and more. Typically, powerlifting main lifts are back squat, deadlift and bench press. These workouts will help to build your lower body strength a lot. For callisthenics, being great in your pull-ups, chin up, monkey bar, and robe climbing is a tremendous asset. Invest some time to work in both powerlifting and callisthenics in your training week.

6. Listen to your body and rest!

Listen to your body. At times, you may experience fatigue and exhaustion. Then, you got no mood to workout. There could be two main reasons. One, you do not have enough sleep. And two, you do not have a rest day. Make sure you give yourself at least 1 to 2 full rest days per week to allow your body to make necessary adaptations and recovery. Make sure you give yourself 7 to 8 hours sleep. Muscle is not built during the workout, it grows when you are sleeping. Rest is very very important to improve your fitness, maximising your results, and preventing injuries. Look through your workout program.

7. Go for a chiropractic and a massage to enhance recovery.

We send our car to service routinely. Probably, every 6 months or every 10,000km mileage. Similar to our body, we push our body during our workout. We also need to “service” our body. I usually go for a chiropractic adjustment once a month. Chiropractic helps me to place my body in the proper position that then allows the body to heal itself. It relieves and losses my joints! Massage relieves the muscles which will speed up recovery and healing. It helps to relieve the Delayed onset muscle soreness! Yes, the painful DOMS! Please invest some time and money in a chiropractic appointment and a massage. It allows your body to work efficiently with less injury downtime.

Train smart. Eat right. Rest well. Sleep enough. Race hard!

Here are My Sample Spartan Race Workout Routines.

Sample Spartan Race Workout Schedule:

Monday – Powerlifting workout (Squat + Bench)

Tuesday – Endurance Run

Wednesday – Interval Run (Speed) + Obstacle Training

Thursday – Rest

Friday – Powerlifting workout (Deadlift)

Saturday – Interval Run (Burpee per km)

Sunday – Rest

When you schedule your workout, here are the things that you always need to consider;

Hello Spartans! Thank you for reading my blogs and I appreciate it very much. I hope it will add value to you. Now, I am going to share with you a review of The Spartan OCR Slit Leather glove.

SPARTAN OCR SLIT LEATHER

SPARTAN OCR SLIT LEATHER

SPARTAN OCR SLIT LEATHER

Let us go back to the purpose of using the Fit Four gloves. Just look at my palm below. I got ripped calluses from my monkey bar training after 4 out of 8 sets. After that, I had to stop for the obvious reason. Yes, it is very very painful.

Yes, this is actually my hand. It hurt!

I cannot lift weight and do any training that requires me to grip on. It contributes the downtime of my workout for at least 3 days. Then, I found out about Fit Four on Instagram and I immediately purchased it. I just had enough of workout downtime due to ripped callus. The first product that I use from Fit Four was the Spartan OCR Slit Grip. I already made a review of it. Please check it out.

Alright, let us now focus on the Spartan OCR Slit Leather. I bought this gloves for my own expenses and it was not given for free by Fit Four. I am also in a search for the best gloves that can help me to avoid ripped calluses and it is worth every penny of my investment. I will give an honest review based on recommendation score below. This is my personal opinion about the Spartan OCR Slit Leather.

1: Don’t Use it!

2: Not Recommended

3: Neutral

4: Recommended

5: Highly Recommended!

I used the gloves for obstacles specific training and powerlifting. I have not used it for the running the Spartan Race. Hence, there will be a follow-up post after using the glove during the Spartan Beast on the 9 December in Johor. I have been using this product for about 4 months now. At the end of the day, you got to try it to know whether it suits you. Let us begin.

OBSTACLE SPECIFIC: 5 for Highly Recommended!

I used the gloves for monkey bar training with the different type of variations. The typical monkey bar, side to side, and with a spice to neutral pull up. Besides that, I use it for bodyweight training such as pull-ups, chin up, and dips. The glove stays firmly on your hand, thanks to the expandable and ribbed wrist wrap. The wrist wrap does help to support my wrist when I am doing dips. It helps to prevent injuries without sacrificing ease of movement for manoeuvring through the craziest of obstacle races. Overall, I am 100% satisfied with the fit four gloves. I can do more reps and sets without any calluses ripped on my palm. I gave it a 5 for highly recommended as it helps me to achieve zero downtime from training.

Let’s compare to Spartan OCR Slit Grip! The Spartan OCR Slit Grip performed better than Spartan OCR Slit leather when comes to gripping strength. However, the leather version allows you to swing efficiently which gave me the mobility to move to the other bar during my monkey bar training. I believe it is great for callisthenic training as the gloves allow you to swing better.

POWERLIFTING SCORE: 3 for Neutral!

I am still doing powerlifting workout which includes the squat, deadlift and benchpress. Personally, I had to give the recommendation score of 3. It is a nice to have. The leather surface is quite thick and I would prefer to hold the metal bar. I usually use my bare hand with chalk when I do my lifts. However, the wrist wrap feature on the glove does help to support the wrist joint during heavy or maximum effort lifts for working that require pressing movements and overhead lifts. This includes overhead press, dips, bench press and the list goes on. It is about the right tool for the job. For this case, I would be a 50-50. In other words, it has no impact on my lifting and it is a personal preference to use chalk instead of gloves.

Let’s compare to Spartan OCR Slit Grip! Between the grip version and the leather version. I would prefer the grip version. The red silicon on the palm of the glove does help to increase the grip performance. The leather version is good for bodyweight workout which includes pull-up and chin-up. I`m very happy with that. I not going to risk my downtime training due to ripped calluses.

My Final Thought

The Spartan OCR slit leather is very highly recommended for obstacle specific training with the top score of 5. Ever since I use the gloves, I had zero downtime from ripped calluses. For powerlifting, it is a neutral score for me. I prefer to use chalk and feel the metal bar! This is my personal preference. I have not used it for running the Spartan Race. So, there will be a follow-up blog post. I hope my this review can help you to find the right gloves for your obstacle course training. This is my own personal opinion and you got to try it on your own. Please click on the following link for part 2 of the review.

If you want to buy any product from Fit Four, you can show your support by buying through my affiliate link below and get you 20 discount off from your purchases by using the following code before 11 May 2018!Please share it with your friends too!

DISCOUNT20

If you’re unable to answer this question, you are in trouble. Basically, you are not in control of your life. If you look at every single sport in the Olympics, they are always scoreboard to quantify leading team and ranks. That is how we quantify the winners. In this context, they are 3 groups of people. Number one, the people who achieve their goal. Number two, the people who fail their goal. The third group, the people who do not have any goals. If you’re in the first group of people, great! Now, you need to set a bigger goal. If you’re in the second group, it is alright. You learn something and do not ever let failure stop you from achieving your goal. Thomas Edison said;

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

If he gave up after his first try, do you think we will recognize him as one of the greatest inventors of all? Of course not, it is because he has shown perseverance to achieve his goal.

Now, the third group of people is the group you all should NOT be in. They are even worst who failed to achieve their goal. Zig Ziglar said;

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.

It is like a football team in a World Cup who said, “We do not need a scoreboard. We just want to play.” There no sense of purpose for the football team to compete in the World Cup who do not care about their score. Do not be in that group. Remember this;

People who don’t have GOAL usually work for people who do.

Let us go back to the questions again. “What are your life goals?” I am going to share with you my high level 6 F’s of Life Fulfillment goals. They are Faith, Family, Fitness, Financial, Friends, and finally Freedom. These are the elements that I focus on every hour of the day. If it is not part of your goal, be bold to decline it. Why? Because you are accountable!

Call to action: You need to spend some time to reflect what do you want to do with your life and take control. Be in an environment that allows you to focus. It could be at the beach, in the toilet, Starbucks and anyway that allow you to focus. Please switch your phone off and just use a piece of paper and pen. Start writing it down, and remember the first draft of your goal is usually bad. But you just need to start. Write it down and execute your goal every single day. Your goal may develop over time but remember to stick with it and learn to adjust.

Who is Marvin?

I am a husband, engineer, Spartan Racer, powerlifter and a blogger. The purpose of MarvinInspire is to inspire people to embrace the life obstacles. I believe the secret of winning outside, is to first to win inside. It is all about building a positive mindset to overcome the obstacles. Let's inspire people to embrace the obstacles to achieve greatness in life.